Drag Bingo ignites laughter

Drag Bingo host Autumn Summer holds a microphone for liberal arts sophomore Arika Escamilla to imitate a horse’s sound during an orgasm as part of drag queen bingo Wednesday in the Fiesta Room of Loftin. The event was sponsored by Gay Ally Lesbian Alliance. Photo by Riley Stephens

By NICOLE WEST

sac-ranger@alamo.edu

In honor of Ally Week and to wrap up Coming Out Week, drag performers Autumn Summers and Eryca Daniels hosted a joke-filled bingo game Wednesday for the third year at this college, in the Fiesta Room of Loftin Student Center.

The Gay Ally Lesbian Association sponsored Drag Bingo.

Ally Week is to celebrate straight friends who support and to spread equality.

“You don’t have to be gay to say hey,” said GALA President Rene Orozco, advertising and public relations sophomore.

Between every number called, Summers and Daniels told jokes, which drew laughter and applause throughout the event. After a bingo game, Summers and Daniels invited students to the stage to share their coming out story with the audience.

Nursing freshman Alec Castillo came to the stage and said, “I came out on National Transgender Day, I’m female–male.” He brought his parents to a transgender seminar where he came out to his parents.

“Supposedly, they handled it well,” Castillo said. The audience applauded as Castillo walked off the stage.

Along with coming-out stories, contests, and jokes in between bingo rounds, drag queen performances also took place.

Performer Odyssey Nicole Whitney entered the stage in a sparkling gold sequinned outfit and received tips from audience members as she performed.

She came out a second time and performed Berry White’s song, “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe.”

The audience whistled as she pranced out of the drapes a second time during the song wearing a black and turquoise leotard and walked up to students in the audience.

Many drag performers choose not to use their real name but make up their own stage names.

Odyssey Nicole Whitney explained she came up with her stage name while she was at South Beach Night Club in Houston. She was going through a magazine she found and saw a story on Homer’s, “The Odyssey” and stuck with it, she said.

Colorful bracelets that read, “SAC is coming out for equality” were given away to bingo winners as well as to audience members.

Other prizes included SAC pride shirts as well as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” posters signed by Sharon Needles, the winner of RuPaul’s “Drag Race” in Season 4.

Needles will perform in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” as the main character, Frank N. Furter at Woodlawn Theater through Oct. 27.

Showtimes are 8 p.m. on Thursday and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The final prize awarded were two balcony seat tickets to that show. Electrical engineering sophomore Daniel Rivera won the tickets after dancing to the “Oscar Mayer Weiner” song, hopping on one foot, clapping his hands and spinning in circles during a game of Simon Says.

“I’m an Ally. The reason why I joined GALA is because I believe in equality. I used to be in the military and the reason why I joined was so everyone can live in a country and live the way they want to live,” Rivera said. “No matter what you believe in, keep on going and do great things.”